Cooking

Everyone over the age of 50 can remember their mother’s tried-and-true recipe for chicken salad...pieces of cooked chicken, chopped walnuts, a little chopped celery, sliced white grapes and lots of mayonnaise!
Sound familiar?
These days, there are so many different varieties of chicken salad that I’ve lost count. Most start out with a bed of crisp green lettuce topped with cooked, grilled or marinated and then grilled chicken breasts. Then it can be topped with various cheeses, nuts, veggies and even fruits.

As a general rule of thumb, herbs come from grassy plants and spices from barks or seeds. Herbs tend to grow in temperate climates, while most spices come primarily from tropical regions.
The term “spice” refers to the whole family of dried plant seasonings, including spices, herbs, blends and dehydrated vegetables.

For those who aren’t yet aware, the Beacon has a new editor, Jackie Torok. I asked her recently what her favorite meals were, and she mentioned Hungarian goulash, chicken paprikash and stuffed cabbage rolls. So, in order to make points with our new editor, I thought I’d share my versions of these classics.
Hungarian goulash is neither a soup nor a stew; it’s somewhere in between. It’s primarily a beef dish cooked with onions, sweet or pickled peppers and paprika. In some recipes, potatoes and/or noodles are also added.

If there’s one food that really captures the essence of summer, it’s salad. It doesn’t necessarily have to be leafy and green to be called a salad, as some of my favorite summertime salads have never been near a head of lettuce.
Over the years, I’ve shared many salad ideas, with many of them coming from my wife, who makes great summer salads. I still like to try out new ideas out on her, and most of them I get two thumbs up. We won’t talk about the ones that don’t make the list!